Cumulus aiming to take out Rush Limbaugh with Mike Huckabee

Rush Limbaugh isn’t just facing attacks from the left, but now he’s in a fight that could actually do some damage to his radio syndication. Cumulus Media is starting the Mike Huckabee Show to go head to head with Rush from 12-3pm. Hack is being advertised as an alternative to Rush, especially in the wake of Rush’s ‘slut’ remark – something Cumulus seems all too excited about taking advantage of.

But it isn’t just ‘healthy competition’. Cumulus seems to be planning to bump Rush Limbaugh from their stations to replace him with Huckabee, as soon as his contract is up, starting with his flagship station, WABC in New York:

WSJ – After decades as a dominant force in talk radio, Rush Limbaugh could be in for his biggest fight yet. But the threat isn’t from activist groups who dislike his conservative politics. It is from one of his own: former Republican governor of Arkansas and onetime presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee.

Starting April 9, Mr. Huckabee, a Fox News Channel commentator, will go head-to-head with Mr. Limbaugh in a syndicated radio program airing in the noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time, weekday slot.

“The Huckabee Show” will initially air on 140 stations, well short of Mr. Limbaugh’s roughly 600. But the recent drama over Mr. Limbaugh calling a Georgetown law student a “slut” for her comments about contraception insurance coverage has given Mr. Huckabee an opening. Numerous advertisers bolted from “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” and at least two stations dropped the program.

This fight isn’t really about Huckabee vs Limbaugh, but rather Cumulus vs Limbaugh:

REUTERS – Earlier this week, Cumulus Media sent out an email blast to fellow radio station owners with a photoshopped picture of former U.S. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, promoting him as the conservative talk radio host of the future.

Though the email did not name Rush Limbaugh, the long-running, top-rated talk radio host whose program is nationally syndicated by Cumulus’ rival, Clear Channel Communications, the intent was obvious to some recipients.

“They are going after Rush’s affiliates,” said one radio company executive who received Cumulus’ email and spoke on condition of anonymity. “They are positioning Huckabee as the safe, non-dangerous alternative to Rush and saying to station owners, ‘If you are looking for conservative content, we want you to consider our guy instead of theirs.‘”

“Safe, non-dangerous alternative to Rush”? Sounds like the words of a liberal who is attacking Rush the way the left has gone after him since his infamous ‘slut’ remarks.

According to WSJ, one of the stations Cumulus now owns is WABC in New York, where Rush has been broadcasting for over twenty years. And the talk is that once his contract is up, they will replace him with Mike Huckabee:

“It is serendipitous or providential, however you want to look at it,” said Cumulus Media co-Chief Operating Officer John W. Dickey of Mr. Limbaugh’s troubles.

Cumulus itself carries the Limbaugh program on 40 of its stations, including WABC in New York, the nation’s largest radio market. Radio veteran Joel Hollander, a former chief executive of CBS Radio, said “one of the big litmus tests” will be whether Cumulus pulls the Limbaugh show from WABC when its contract expires and picks up the Huckabee program.

Finding another New York home for Mr. Limbaugh might be complicated because other stations would have to change their programming formats to fit in his show. If Premiere Networks, the syndicator of Mr. Limbaugh’s show, couldn’t find another New York station, “that would be a huge chink in the armor” for Mr. Limbaugh’s ability to sell national advertising, Mr. Hollander said.

Mr. Hollander told Reuters regarding WABC and Cumulus:

“I can guarantee you that the minute Cumulus’ contract with Rush expires in New York, they will replace him with Huckabee.”

The bottom line here is that Cumulus seems to want to destroy Rush with a more moderate voice from Huckabee. They have more power than the left simply because they are a powerhouse in the radio business.

Knowing this, my advice is to not listen to Huck’s show. To borrow the words of Rush, “I hope he fails!”

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MiketheMarine

Huck is an establishment guy anyway. I don’t listen to him drone on now when he is on fox.

Lance Martin

people still watch the Mitt Foxney channel?

PFFV

Who in the H E double hockey sticks (LL) wants to listen to the Bible thumper, Sunday school teacher Mike Huckabee? I can’t stand his show on Fox News as it is. He is a total bore as an entertainer and has no conservative fire what so ever. Rush will survive because true conservatives and Tea Party patriots love him, as I do by the way. They can try to silence Rush but it will never happen. Many people agree with Mr. Limbaugh’s remarks about the liberal (birth control) activist Fluke. She is going broke because she can’t keep her legs closed, how is this in any way the taxpayers problem at all? Liberals think the taxpayers should provide everything for them; even so they can have irresponsible unprotected sex and then murder the innocent with our money not theirs, SICK! Rush was right 100%!

Yeah, money talks. This is 100% certain to backfire. Rush has an established audience. They won’t just go to Huck just because it’s the same time slot. I mean, if it was that simple, Friends would have been canceled after a couple years and the now show in its time slot would have enjoyed the same audience, but with cheaper actors? Yeah, not very likely. Something is up. I think this may just be a ploy for them to get an upper hand on contract renegotiation.

MrMicawber

Exactly. Something is very odd about this. There is simply no way anyone – much less radio execs – really believes that Hucky is going to replace Rush.

I’d be surprised if Huck could get near the ratings of Rush – and ratings mean ad revenue. They might give it a shot, but other stations will pick up Rush and they’ll end up kicking themselves. I don’t think Rush has a thing to worry about.

It might make Rush richer. I would be far more likely to subscribe if they took him off the air in Chicago. I’m surprised we even get national conservative shows because the definition of conservative here is about even with Olympia Snowe. Medved would be considered a fringe right-winger here.

I’d have to look at the pricing first, but it’s almost a sure thing that I would subscribe if they remove him from my radio. I’m struggling, but I can make it happen if the price per year is reasonable.

las1

Who the hell would ever want to listen to Huckabee?

You have to have a product someone wants before you can sell it.

Even if the cockamamie scheme (if it can be called that) were to somehow get off the ground, Huckabee wouldn’t last three months. His so-called conservative voice would be silenced in the end as well.

Not really, but if Rush disappears from a Radio station they listen to, that’s not good either. The fact that Cumulus is willing to bump rush and replace him with Huck means they probably aren’t that concerned with having the best ratings.

MiketheMarine

We’ve got to have some stinking wealthy folks right here. You and me, Scoop. WE will be the new news outlet. You do the typing and I’ll hold the line in the lobby from the feds. All we need now is a backer.

NYGino

Funny comment Mike. Maybe I can help you, I hear Corbonite is available.

Gloria

ROTFLMAO…That is soo funny!

las1

Exactly… with liberals, ideology often trumps money. Hollywood is willing to produce such crap movies to pump their leftist messages, while they let conservative money-making movies fall by the wayside.

And yet…. someone is paying to see those movies or they wouldn’t be made. Folks, we gotta change hearts and minds of the people. That’s the key. Everything else is a bandaid over the real problem.

DebbyX

The way things are going, I think it’ll take at least a generation to change hearts and minds. The Left today does not want to hear anything that doesn’t conform to their view. We have to teach our children conservatism and pray they pass it on.

marketcomp

I think this is the liberals way of getting their left-wing point of view into mainstream. If Huckabee says something controversal they will not even think about cutting his show.

nibblesyble

I just wrote something similar in response to Scoop, then I scroll down and see yours! Great minds and all that eh?

marketcomp

Could this move mean Mark Levine is next?

bb2712

This could cause as many people to turn off their radio as turned off their televisions or went to alternatives.

edged25

I will follow rush. I allready listen to him on the computer a lot. Huckabee is not for me.

Money talks BS walks…Bump him and we will listen to him on another station or the internet. Cumulus can do w/e the freak they want to but they will lose the Rush listeners..

nibblesyble

I don’t understand that..what radio business doesn’t want the best ratings? Boggles the mind. Having said that, Hollywood has been losing money like crazy because they won’t change their mind-set; I guess this is similar.

p m

Can’t get Levin from Seattle either – being in Vancouver I have to use a proxy for the Great One, but it’ll only work from Oregon. Thanks for the reminder – I’m an hour late tuning in cos’ TRS is too dang interesting, especially today.

PS One local Bellingham station still carries Rush, Beck and Hannity but Lars Larsen replaced Mark a while ago – maybe a contract thing since they still carry the others. It’s part of a local broadcasting group. Just found a letter to listeners about the Flush Rush effort – a good one too and worth a quick read – good for Cascade Broadcasting Group:http://kgmi.com/pages/12442058.php

nibblesyble

You are in Van? I am in Vernon!

p m

Well, howdy neighbour! Good to know we’re not alone in the ‘far north’ eh?! Looks like a few posters are from Canada…

nibblesyble

Hey, yes it is nice to see some Canuck posters who care. Frankly I am swimming in a sea of liberals, some laid back, others rabid, but I am one of a kind. I can’t even imagine what environment you are dealing with in Van. I shudder to think of it. Here is to knowing the truth and doing what we can to spread it!

With a name like Cumulus, they can’t be concerned with much of anything

Kitty Myers

I listen to Rush because I want to hear Rush. Rush is the only radio show I do listen to. I don’t tune in because I have a spare 3 hrs with nothing to do. (I listen while I do housework.) I’m not tuning in to the Huckster. It’s Rush or no one.

teri_b

I can barely stand a five minute segment with Huck when he is on TV. I certainly wouldn’t tune in to a radio show hosted by him.

This is less a war on Rush than on conservatives. His intemperate comments were mild compared to other things people have said on air.

stillgoing

I guess Mike Hee-Haw doesn’t mind being used, this will backfire on him!

If Huck is doing this knowingly, he will fail. For a “conservative” to try to take Rush down just to get him off the air disgusts me.

p m

Must be taking tips from Romney’s campaign yahoos…

gobnait

There’s something notably sinister about Huckabee. He is certainly no conservative. He is all about promoting Huckabee. How quickly we forget his aggressive push to pardon a convicted serial rapist who went on to rape and murder another woman afterwards. At the very least he exhibits poor judgement.

johnos2112

It is all about ratings folks. Rush makes his advertisers a lot of money. Interesting though.

screamingmad

Rush listeners are not going to move to Huck. But maybe moderate Dems will and have some new insights. Lord knows I dont want to hear from a moderate myself because I am wide awake when it comes to the dangers this country is in. Perhaps it will serve a purpose we cant see yet. OOps, do I sound like a moderate? lol, I’m not in the least. I am frustrated that there are so many, many people asleep.

JoeMontana16

Rush will be fine I feel. Huckabee isn’t exactly a lightning bolt of excitement. Plus Rush has the most loyal listening audience I’ve ever seen.

Nukeman60

Cumulus Media must have just had a meeting with ‘Air America’ to see how they can better themselves for the future. Radio is all about the ratings and no one has ratings like Rush.

Of course, we all have been talking about what Huck has to say these days (not), so we may never see a difference in the quality of broadcasting (not, not). Somebody in Cumulus better get on the phone to ‘Sleep Train’ and get their opinion of what they should do.

I actually wish Air America was still on. I still remember being a liberal and listening to it. I must have been the only listener. Anyways, it was the election when Kerry lost. Oh man. You should have heard it. Or not heard it. It was devastating. Still took me a while after that to move away from liberalism, but the hatred and insults that you would hear on those shows were like nothing you’ve ever encountered before. It’s no wonder it failed. What’s strange is that the MSM does a better job of hiding the hate and projecting it. But I think they’re not as careful of late. If the MSM displayed their hate like Air America did, there would be no more liberals.

Boris_Badenoff

You ain’t heard nothing yet.. IF the Messiah loses in 2012 it will make your Kerry episode look like kindergarten time…

gobnait

As a former lifelong Democrat/bleeding heart tree hugger who saw the light a few years back, I couldn’t agree with you more. I laugh every time I read a liberal post that proclaims that hatred and bitter, destructive vitriol is a product of the right. Liberals literally wrote the book (think “Rules for Radicals”) on it.

He isn’t a conservative. Not only that, Huck showed me who he was when he had a forum of the Presidential candidates and gave Romney the person where Romney could show a “softer” side of himself. Yep, Huck is in on the shoving Romney down our throats.

I never watched his TV show, and when I’ve caught him on the radio with Medved I’ve turned the station. I don’t tune into radio for the status quo and establishment opinion, I tune in for hardcore intelligent conservative talk. Other shows aren’t worth my time.

Mary_Linda

Rush SHOULD NOT HAVE APOLOGIZED!
He asked a question and the answer to
the question FIT – the way Fluke behaved
was LIKE A SLUT. Period. Nothing to
apologize for!!

Jaynie59

The only reason Rush apologized was to stop the destruction on the so-called “conservative” side and to save the Republican Party for this coming election. His only mistake was in underestimating the spinelessness of conservatives. Of course none of them would defend him until he apologized.

He apologized to save this country. That’s the only reason he did it. And, yeah, it’s too bad he had to but he had to. Until conservatives grow some balls people like Rush are on their own.

4 Dead in Federal Way. The liberal Huckabee commuted the sentence of the violent whacko who did it. Huckabee quit his run for president… the most important election I can remember and where our future as a free nation may well be at stake…. interesting he would have to have given up his tv spot on Fox etc. I mean, he was building a new home and everything…

I lost respect for this man fast… I am very skeptical of him.

ernst1776

LOL, Huckabee? seriously?

Sandra123456

I can’t stand to watch Huckabee’s TV show, why would I want to listen to him on radio?

Whatever. I don’t listen to Rush on the radio. I listen to Rush via computer.

“Watered down conservate talk radio fits in perfectly with the Media Matters/Think Progress/Color of Change demand that confrontational conservative talk radio hosts like Rush be taken off the airwaves. Not surprisingly, Media Matters was gleeful at Dickie’s talk about replacing Rush with Huckabee.

Cumulus’ “more conversation, less confrontation” approach waters down the one media outlet (radio) where conservatives are dominant and replaces those who are willing to push back with milquetoast.”

How daft can they get?

Jaynie59

I hope that all of you “conservatives” now supporting Santorum think long and hard about this. Because Santorum is this election cycles Huckabee. That’s all he is. He’s a backbencher. He’s a hack politician who finds himself appealing to stupid people for stupid reasons and he’s loving every minute of it. It’s gone to his head and he’s gonna ride this wave as far as it takes him.

Rick Santorum is a poor mans Huckabee and if you support him you are supporting a second rate loser who cares more about himself than he does this country.

Oh, and Rush will be fine. He’s not in it for the money.

Asian_chic

I thought we were talking about Rush, Cumulus and Huck. I guess you can bash Santorum and his supporters on any thread no matter the subject. I like liberty and freedom which we will be losing because of Obamacare. If you can’t understand that, I think you should look in the mirror because the word stupid will be written all over it.

wodiej

it doesn’t help to insult people.

screamingmad

sorry, you are right….just lost my head for a minuet.

wodiej

Get a thread going about Rush Limbaugh’s vulgar comments and people defend him w insulting remarks. And what does this have to do with the thread anyway?

screamingmad

So who do you suggest? Not Mitt or Paul surley. Gingrich was my vote. What a mess we are in.

If Cumulus Media isn’t careful, they may end up begging obama and the other socialist-democrats for some bailout money…

nibblesyble

lol

NYGino

KM. you bring up a point. Wonder if they have already been paid off by the Impostor in Chief to do this.

Arrrggghhh

Rush will be fine. Even if this happened, he’d either get picked up by another media company or he could go rogue on the web. I bet there are millions of us who would be happy to pay a monthly subscription fee to hear Rush’s show on the web. He’d probably be even better without the sponsor constraints. Although I’m not a huge Beck fan anymore, his GBTV model would be hugely profitable for Rush.

dlg1956

Rush is right, Huckabea is an idiot…..They will regret this move and Rush will be picked up immediately by their competitor and it is all over for the establishment GOP who is no doubt behind this whole scheme.

This election will definitely be between the wheat and the chaff, the establishment GOP hates Rush, but the working American loves him. I can tell you he is well listened to across all levels of society.

BRING IT… I will be laughing all the time watching the outcome and pushback, it will be enormous and effective. Huck will not be able to get one advertiser paying a red cent in advertising should this happen.

palinista1

People do not forget, they’ve tried this before with O’Reilly’s Radio Show, right after Rush went to rehab some years ago, competing at the same time slot and O’Reilly was promoting himself as the alternative to Rush. Anybody knows what happened to that show….lol…canceled…let them try again….COMPLETE FAIL…

Eh, I don’t think this is anything more than a leveraging tool when it comes time to re-negotiate Rush’s contract. They’d be insane to throw away 15 million weekly listeners. They would, however, like to pay less for it.

nibblesyble

very astute

NYGino

Rush is a man of integrity, as most of us know. The sponsors who bailed on him, he won’t let back on. If Cumulus is playing a cute game to get to get themselves into a better bargaining position they deserve what they get. Can’t wait to hear the BIG backfire on this one.

quinn_the_eskimo

Hucks smarmy, awe shucks schtick isn’t going to be any match for Rush’s confident, brutally honest, larger than life personality.
Rush is da Man….
Huckster, not so much.

Jaynie59

Rush Limbaugh is a gentleman. He’s polite to a fault and the most articulate, thoughtful, intelligent conservative voice we have. The only person who even comes close to Rush is Mark Levin. When it comes to explaining what conservatism is and what it means the two of them are exceptional.

Neither one of them are anywhere near the caricatures the press has foisted on them and the Right has bought into.

quinn_the_eskimo

agreed…100%

bb2712

There is a reason that Rush has 600 stations to Huckabee’s 140 now. Its because people prefer Rush. This is not a business decision I would make.

Jack B. Erhart

What I haven’t heard yet is anyone talking about how accurate Rush’s statement actually was. I mean even in the way he framed it. What else would you call someone who wants to have sex as often as they want outside the bonds of marriage, and then have someone else pitch in to help pay to protect them from the consequences of those actions? Call me a prude, but I guess these days of STD’s and abortion on demand just makes it all so simple to just do what feels good, and let someone else pay for it.

I can’t answer to what our society calls it, but I know what God calls it. And it’s His opinion that counts in the end, now doesn’t it?

wodiej

You have got to be KIDDING ME?? God never called a woman a slut or prostitute-not even Mary Magdalene. Just because the woman wanted free contraception didn’t mean she was having sex w multiple partners.

MrMicawber

No, but it does mean she wants US to pay, so that SHE can have sex. What DO you call such a person?

NYGino

A leach being used by the left and she doesn’t even know it. It’s her 15 minutes of fame, unfortunately for her she chose the wrong battle, she’ll never lose the stigma she surrounded herself with.

MrMicawber

I think she knew exactly what she was doing NYGino – remember, she’s a 30 year old activist, not a 19 year old undergrad.

She’s going to get plenty out of this; I wouldn’t be surprised if she were a Rep or even a Senator within a decade.

NYGino

Your probably right. I forgot the world we’re living in now and it’s values. What you’re saying is she just might have solidified her liberal street cred and achieved lefty sainthood. Am I reading you right?

MrMicawber

Pretty much. Although, I think she was already a lefty saint; she didn’t come from nowhere; think of that whole thing as her “coming out party.” It was merely a staged thing – she was “playing” an innocent, attractive girl who somehow (LOL!) found herself giving testimony at something that was made to look like a committee hearing, but was in fact a made-up, glorified press conference; a press conference organized by Anita Dunn’s firm. Remember her? The whole thing was a farce – and Fluke is absolutely, postively one of them.

NYGino

Gosh, I hope she was using protection.

MrMicawber

LOL!

….MUST get that image…out…..of……head!

slgerard

God never sanctioned such behavior. But he does disapprove of stoning such people to death.

Our society now sanctions such behavior, so we are now in the Alice and Wonderland place of having people with the AUDACITY to beg for free contraception from their neighbors so they can pursue their right to hedonism. This is the fruits we pay for having no standards.

What this woman did is so disgusting and outrageous it’s unbelievable. Four hundred years ago she would be walking around the town square with a scarlet letter “A”, now she gets a phone call from the president. I’m not suggesting she wear an “A”, but could we at least have a little balance? I don’t care if calling her a slut hurts her feelings, behavior like this needs to be shamed and condemned by society. No, she shouldn’t be stoned. But the woman Jesus forgave for adultery had at least a modicum of sorrow for her sins. This woman is proudly flaunting them for all of us to see.

When we tolerate anything, the people pushing us will just push harder. What new outrage will we be asked to accept tomorrow? Oh, but if we say anything against bestiality and child sacrifices to volcano gods, will we again be condemned as insensitive prudes?

MrMicawber

A huge applause through the internet sir/madam.

Sinsonta

To me Huckabee doesn’t exist. He is a big ‘RINO’. The hours between 12-3 pm Et are Rush hours and No Huck will be able to compete. Probably this is a move from the GOP Establishment because they hate Rush!

nibblesyble

I have always found Huck an affable guy. I like his pro-life stance and his aw-shucks mentailty. However, listening to him 3 hours a day every day…boooriing. If this is really to be, then good luck with replacing Rush, because they will need it.

Boris_Badenoff

He’s a fake….

Conservative_Hippie

agreed.

2besusie

I listen to Rush on WABC in NYC and if they replace him with that snoozefest called Mike Huckabee there is no way that I will tune in. I intend to let Cumulus Media know my feelings in no uncertain terms, and would encourage others to do the same.

Well this is EXACTLY why our side continues to fail. No balls to fight against the rantings of a few. All I can say is good riddance, and while you’re walking away from the money and the audience, look at who walked out the door first and is holding that door for you?

CARBONITE.

That decision has worked out so well for them. Perhaps it is finally a much needed step for our side to clean house of the ‘squishy neville chamberlains’ in the party? I’m sick of the pushover moderates. This fight we’re in isn’t about getting along anymore. We need to have the first string players, not the ones who like to run the clock out on a one point lead.

wodiej

No the conservatives are failing because they are acting like liberals.

I’m embarrassed to be a Christian American anymore! Just so weak and stupid. The ‘Good Guys’ are just handing our country over to ‘the Bad Guys’ and all they do is blab and complain and ‘turn the cheek’ as ‘The Bad Guys’ devour America!
SHAME on you ball-less Christians for handing over this great country which so many BRAVE men have died to defend.
As for me, I’ve just about had it with the Romneys and Hiuckabees and the McCains. If ‘The Good Guys’ don’t want to go to war with a General like Gingrich or West, then:
Where’s the Devil, I might just sign up…
See: http://houraney.com/2011/12/the-good-guys-eat-their-own/

wodiej

As a Christian you should be embarrassed that a well known conservative went on national radio and used vulgar and obscene language about a woman. Would you like it if someone talked about your wife or daughter like that or do you think women in general don’t deserve any respect?

A typical liberal response; disregard all facts and realities and restructure the argument (lie) to promote your own opinion. Sorry, we’re not all weak and stupid.
1. My wife & daughter were not testifying to the world that they were a ‘whore’ – (look up the definition – never mind, I forgot, the facts are irrelevant)
2. When a prostitute is arrested she is not charged with ‘activism.’ I respect prostitutes much more than whores like Sandra Fuke. At least the Prostitutes are honest.
3. All women, or at least Most Women are not whores.
Not that the truth matters anymore in a country run by lawyers, whores, atheists, and queers…
If you are indeed a Christian and respect America’s Judeo-Christian foundation, than we can agree on at least one point;
‘When the foundation cracks, the walls crumble…’

Is_Sense_Common

While I completely disagree with wodiej on this issue, he/she is no liberal.

Huckaphony? Dude? Seriously? I’d rather not even listen to the radio, than listen to the Oliver Cromwell-wannabe, Huckakphony. Has he joined the DNC, yet? Yeah, I’m sure Rush has pissed his boxers, at the thought of going head to head against that mush-mouthed bed wetter.

wodiej

well I can see why you like Limbaugh-you have a potty mouth just like he does.

wodiej

I don’t really listen to much talk radio and I don’t agree w Huckabee on every issue but at least I’d know I wouldn’t have to worry about hearing him say something vulgar and obscene about a woman. The bottom line is Limbaugh went too far and he has no one to blame but himself. We had a local radio DJ say something demeaning about women in general about 4 years ago. The station got so many complaints including mine, they pulled him. I don’t think Limbaugh is going to lose all of his radio affiliate spots but perhaps God felt he needed a wake up call.

Is_Sense_Common

Sorry but if you don’t listen to talk radio much, then you really don’t have the credentials to slam Rush in that manner. He is not vile,obscene, nor vulgar. He connected the dots a little too closely on the Fluke thing but he is nowhere near the monster those who don’t listen are attempting to make him out to be. Listen to him for one week & then come back & say how he’s obscene or vulgar.

Gloria

You never listened to Limbaugh…

NYGino

It’s amazing how many people will come out and say they don’t like, or even hate Rush and then you ask if they’ve ever listened to him and they stammer and stutter and say, ‘well no, I just don’t like him’

NYGino

wodiej, obviously you’ve never listened to anyone on the left and their oh so gentile commentary on the fairer sex. Wake up or go back to sleep, your choice.

blueboypink

I was in support of Huckabee back when. I even got upset at Rush for calling him a Populist back then. I can now see the wisdom Rush had. I also can now see Huckabee for what he is- – wishy washy.

OK so, cumulus will lose a crap load of money. I like Huck, but I’d not listen to him over El Rushbo.

cathmom

and not for 3 hours!!

NYGino

3hours? Who could do it? It would be a feat of heroic proportions.

ZM71

The thing is, in today’s world where so many radio stations can stream over the internet. Won’t most people who want to listen to rush just move online? I know I have started to listen to him on my laptop because WTVN’s online feed is usually clearer than the feed I can pick up on my radio.

usajingoist

LOL! Snooze fest! We don’t listen to Rush because he is the only one on. HA! Huckabee is such a RINO!

Nosmo King

Didn’t O’reilly try to pull this kind of shit when El Rushbo started to have hearing problems? How long did O’reilly’s radio program last?

NYGino

Good point.

dlg1956

This GOP establishment effort will fail just as Romney is failing to win big in any elections

There really is a war on/ between conservatives, isn’t there. I guess this makes it official.
I wish them luck & maybe they better bring a sammich & a change of britches.
(& I’m not even that big a Rush fan. I like Mark better.)

Doubt that. They will just wave some cash in the Hucksters face , that’s all it will take..
He’s as fake as a 3 dollar bill.

NEO CON JOHN

Never Happen! I tell you what is going to happen is RUSH is going to recognize
{if he already hasn’t} He doesn’t need AM/FM Radio and he too will hit the net hard !
Then between him and Beck, thats the start of the big network media’s downfall.
Because other big conservative baclers will have found a new way to get our message out to the people and the younger generation!

As much as I like Huck, he is no match for Limbaugh when it comes to exposing Liberals and telling it like it is….

Huck is not just a moderate, he is a softie ( albeit a likable one )
Cumulus is making a grave mistake if they do this their revenue will plummet. Rush should go some where else.

cathmom

I totally agree. Huck is way too soft and is RINO and afraid to speak the truth. Sorry, not interested.

NYGino

They should talk to the brains at Carbonite.

gothicreader

What I find is how Huckabee would accept this nefarious attack. Where’s the dignity or better yet, the integrity?

Isn’t Huckabee a minister or such? I guess he doesn’t have a conscience once you start making big bucks.

I suspect that Rush will go Satellite as did Imus and Howard Stern, in which case I’ll be more happy. Plus, losing some of the listening station is no biggie in the big scheme of things. Anyone with any business sense would understand is all comes down to the bottom dollar. He should do like @heytammybruce decided over 2 years ago and internet radio only.

Rush will always be #1 even if he loses some listeners.

BTW, listening to my satellite radio on my way home today I couldn’t believe the DJ on 80’s on 8 talking about Cue Lo (?) (whatever the heck he’s called) and how he let loose the F bomb during BHO campaign dinner. He was so blase about and how it was so cool. The DJ, Alan Hunter, even said that his new F bomb song would be a hit. Geez, what has this world come to? It’s crazy; no wonder God is so pissed off at us.

sDee

Huckabee is feel good methadone for people who are to afraid to break free from their dependency on government.

CowBell_Fever

What was that bit he was running a while back? The Huckabee Report? It was a 30 second spot that ran two or three times a day, and was about all he was good for on the air waves.
Someone at Cumulus must seriously be suffering from delusions if they think they’re going to pass off the equivalent of New Coke to fill the time slot of EIB.

jackl92

Help me out, is this the same guy who has one night at fox? Two weeks tops, sorry haters.

Sober_Thinking

If Huck had any scruples, he would turn them down flat. He’s a smart guy, he should see this for what it is and not play their game.

Safe, non dangerous? To who, the left? Yeah, that’s who I want to listen to, someone safe and non dangerous, and boring and it’s also relieving to know he wont rustle any feathers. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Alborn

Personally, I cannot stand to listen to Huckabee. I did not even like his Fox show the few times I watched it. I do not think anybody could listen to him for three hours. I know I will not listen to him at all. I no longer want to get along I want to win. Buckle-up we are in for a rough ride.

NYGino

Let’s make a sports analogy. Peyton Manning. ‘Nuff said.

NYGino

If I didn’t know any better I would swear this story wasn’t supposed to be released for thirteen days. April 1st.

ApplePie101

Huckabee is the Mr. Rogers of talk radio. What we want are the George S. Pattons of radio, like Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh.

If Huck goes up against Rush. Huck loses. If O’ goes up against Rush, O’ is toast. If Media Matters goes up against Rush (which they have), it’s media, matters not.

Here’s the moral of the story. Don’t go up against Rush. He kicked it all into high gear and trumped William F. Buckley, (without all of the gagging extracurricular throat noises and idiosyncratic whatevers).

He’ll kick your ash in a most embarrassing fashion. “Killed by a lovable little fuzzball with half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair”. You don’t want your tombstone to read that way. Don’t do it Huckster.

Wow, this is a busy thread. I hope I didn’t say what someone else said. If I did, stop plagiarizing me 🙂

NYGino

I’m thinking the same way. Jumped in after about 100 postings and I’m sure I’m repeating what has already been expressed but I’m too wound up to see. Rush is THE man.

nibblesyble

LOL

Is_Sense_Common

Cumulus will be the only loser in this battle. Rush will be welcomed with open arms to Sirius and the like. To be honest, I can’t believe I can still listen to such an amazing host & mind for free. I will gladly support Rush with my dollars.

Clearly Cumulus doesn’t understand the Conservative thirst for a voice, nor do they understand our loyalty.

DavidRobertson

If I were Huckabee I would run for the hills. He is no match for Limbaugh. It is pretentious for these muckity-mucks to think they can just “replace” Rush. They tried it with Air America, and now they are trying it with Huckabee? Gimme a break. We’ve seen this movie before. Huck, do yourself a favor and don’t set yourself up like this. It won’t be pretty. Just ask the legions of others that have tried…

Well, stations can swap Huckabee for Rush but there is no way Huckabee will pull the number of listeners Rush does, not even a third of the listeners. My friends and associates can get Fox on cable – no one ever talks about what Huckabee says on his TV show but we do talk about what Rush says on his radio program. Heck, I know high school kids who talk about Rush (they are fans) but not one of them has ever mentioned what Huckabee says. Plain and simple, few people care what Huckabee has to say – he is not relevant.

I listen to Rush for three hours every week day. There is no way I would listen to Huckabee – he’s not interesting and he doesn’t have any of the charisma that Rush has. Huckabee’s 3-hour radio show would be as lackluster as his 1-hour TV show, a real snooze-fest. And I don’t care who he might have on as guests because I would never know since I would not tune in. Besides, Huckabee is a terrible interviewer. And the whole “look-at-me-I-play-bass-guitar…in-a-suit-yet!” is so old and tired. ZZZZZZZ…

I would turn the radio off and tune to my iPod. And I would listen to Rush from his web site.

Rush could go to BlogTalkRadio and make a zillion dollars, no one else involved.

But really, I love this quote:

“But the recent drama over Mr. Limbaugh calling a Georgetown law student a “slut” for her comments about contraception….”

Does ANYONE here think there was a “recent drama”?! I mean really. Would we have noticed it if inside the beltway astroturfers and the media didn’t try to make it a story? All of these silly “dramas” come up, except I’m left scratching my head, screaming at the television….”I DON’T CARE!!”

That tells me that I’m either insane, or that most people on the right are like me, and they didn’t care either. I listened to him say this live, and I didn’t think “OMG. I can’t believe Rush said that. What a drama he’s going to cause. That poor, poor, woman.”

When are these people going to learn? We are here to stay. We aren’t going to let you take our country down. We stand with those who fight for us, like Rush does.

Who listens to FAKE-abee ? Please, no worries Rush is the Mack , he will do just fine.

AlamoGal

zzzz. Huckabee’s show will do as well as that whacko’s who wouldn’t turn his phone off on the plane and called his daughter a pig. What’s his name? Anyway, Huckabee’s show won’t even begin to scratch the surface of what Rush’s brings in for advertising revenue. And that’s what keeps radio shows on the air – advertising dollars. Watching Huckabee’s show is like an hour of Mr. Rogers meets Lawrence Welk. No flair, no pizzazz, no interest.

DCGere

Won’t listen to Huck, no way, no how. Will remove WABC from my iphone and find another way to listen to Rush.

I remember a few years ago when Bill O’Reilly had the delusion that he might be able to take Limbaugh on head to head. He was competitive the first few months, until people realized he wasn’t that good. I predict any station that dumps Rush for Huckabee will regret it later.

Gloria

I am a 24/7 Rush Limbaugh subscriber/listener and sure can not listen to Huck. Huck is a RINO, GOPe, I haven’t watch his TV show yet and I am not going to. Whoever come with this idea that he’s going to take out Rush, must be insane!

sjmom

As for me, Huck lost me when he coddled Romney. This primary season I have found many for whom I had respect are nothing but shills for the establishment and Huck is one, Coulter is another.

If Cumulus and Huck want to go after Rush there is a good chance they will end up being destroyed themselves because EIB has many faithful listeners. The only way to get ratings is to have listeners and Huck doesn’t have what it takes to get them; Rush’s brilliant conservative mind. There’s only one Rush Limbaugh!

REHLV

Here is my take. This is all just blow & go. I hope they do it. Huckabee will lose them money from the get go. Rush will pick up other stations, and believe me in this age of communication people will find a way to hear Rush. I would love to see the roots of this tree, the money roots I mean. I think we would be surprised who really is pulling the strings. Huckabee, if he was a real conservative would bow out of this dumb idea. They say money talks and people walk. Huck Satan has got a hold of you.

Publis Smith

Go for it Cumulus. Watch your viewship plummet, your ratings drop, your ad rates sink – and you end up LOSING – which is what happens in this lovely system of competition we should have here.

Other stations will happily pick up Rush, watch their viewership rise, ratings increase, ad revenues skyrocket – and those stations would end up WINNING!

Go for it punks. Just try and pretend that a company controls what people want. Demand for a product makes the supply of that product increase. I will laugh my ass off.

NYGino

“…do you feel lucky? Well do you punk?”

REHLV

This should show you just how scared the establishment, and this administration is of us. Time to fight the fight of our lives. Behind our backs our tax dollars are being squandered, our liberties are being taken away, and the brainwashing of millions of Americans has begun. The problem is that some of us will not be brainwashed, and God help us if we have to, we will fight every effort of this group to makes us slaves of our own nation. They are stampeding us, and we are so busy trying to survive, while they send their kids to Mexico for holiday, on our dime, and buy elections because they can.
Wake up America before it is too late. Slavery comes in many forms.

Dodoforever Canspell

Huckabee put a dent in Rush’s popularity? Not gonna happen. In fact, Huckabee will become much less popular because of the dirty tactics planned against Rush.

AnarchyRules

Huck is a hack. We the people don’t need another milktoast wannabe preacher telling us how to behave in confronting the enemy. Turning the other cheek is B.S. when you are battling the Devil or the Left. Jesus, Himself, lost it when He entered the Temple to find it full of special interests promoting their practises and wares in His father’s house. The Libs have done the same thing in our house ,the Congress of the United States. We the people don’t need a preacher, we need a predator, a lion who will challenge these hyenas to protect and defend the territory. Rush is such a beast, I wish we had more of his type.

crosshr

1st. Huckabee is no Rush. I love Huckabee, but it doesn’t make him a Tea Party conservative. Huck is still an establishment republican . Two if by tea Rush is a genuine Tea Party uncompromise warrior.

2nd. Rush in his radio programmee have 20 mil listener. Cumulus media with all their network is no where near in numbers of listener to Rush. Even my very liberal neighbour can’t be interrupted
when Rush is on every single day from 9am to 12noon.

Karl Rogue

Hahahahahaha! Huck’s TV show on Faux News is unwatchable. Cumulus would have to pay me, lots, to listen to Huck instead of Rush

GJPinks

Here’s a headsup on Cumulus. They have been voted by people in the industry as the worst run broadcast company in the US. They may have talk stations that carry conservative talk shows, but they are lib/progs at heart. I know one station that had a local morning politically oriented host (very conservative). His ratings were as strong as Rush. One time, he honked off an advertiser who canceled his advertising in protest, he picked up the phone, called a competitor business and sold them on a schedule that was 30% more than the guy who quit.
They started messing with his program content and finally fired him. Their slogan is ‘every other letter in our name is U’
Those in and formerly in the industry it’s the U like in the C Lo Green song…

Guest1776rcp

LMAO! Cumulus Media sounds like the GOP elders pushing Romney. Shame these people are so clueless and out of touch not only with actual conservatives but reality itself apparently.

Guest1776rcp

Bill O’Really has high ratings for his cable show but how’d that radio thing work out for him? Huckabee has nowhere near the cable audience O’Really has and I predict he’ll be as successful in radio as O’Really was which is not so much.

NYGino

Cumulus might be smarter than we think. They actually may have Rosie O’Donnell lined up.

p m

Good one, cheeky.

Rushette

Cumulus is trying to divide and conquer. Instead, what it will do is face some music it has never heard before: a giant sucking sound of silence.
I am so sick of fake conservatives… Huckabee, Cumulus, Romney, Ray LaHood….
Rush is the real deal. Don’t doubt him.

SaraPFan

Everyone thinks they can be a radio commentator. Can Huckabee successfully carry a show for 3 hours EVERY day and still keep people engaged for the full three hours 5 days a week? In addition, can he maintain a faithful audience that will motivate businesses to target that audience with advertisement dollars? Rush has been doing his show for decades. Everyone wants the power and influence of Rush but don’t realize that radio commentary is a business. The commentator has to come up with interesting and continuous content, attract a core audience and attract businesses to advertise. I don’t forsee Huckabee being a success because he’s not even number or number two in ratings for a one hour Fox show. What content, different or the same from his Fox show, would he have for three hours that would keep people engaged?

Ariadnea

This says more what Huckabee stands for. If he is a part of a plan/conspiracy to destroy a conservative at a time when the democrats are targeting the same person, I would say Huckabee himself has no principles and is not a conservative but a republican in name only. No wonder his support goes to Romney, these people are democrats infiltrating and displacing real conservatives.

NYGino

How’s his tea?

NYGino

How’s his tea?

Ines DeLong

Rush we conservative women love you! Keep exposing them for what they are COWARDS.
they want the conservative women to remain invisible. We need to let them Know that not all women are the same.

aZjimbo

Does anyone really think the huckster can challenge El Rushbo for ratings?

i sent my local station, who is owned by Cumulus, my strong protest that if they drop Rush, I will drop them. I will not sit quietly. They need to know that I WILL NOT listen to Huckabee. He is a shill and is extremely boring.

Huckabee is boring at best, and really doesn’t have talent. Limbaugh knows what he is doing, and is a powerful force for keeping us informed of what is truly going on. Huckabee will stiffle information, and perhaps actually works for the other side. He is a classic example of what a true RINO really is.

Velvet

This is probably the most anyone will pay attention to the Duck. Beyond boring, he has one show on Fox once a week for one hour and it’s a flop. 3 hours a day? Red Bull is going to have a great new market to keep folks awake in the afternoons! Maybe he can get all the Dems on his show and promote more gov’t programs… yippy!

ConnieConservative

I’ll just have to look for Rush on the Internet.
In my car music will have to do.

This is laughable. But hey it’s a free market. Huckabee going head to head with Rush? BRING! IT! ON! Why stop at Huckabee. Let’s line ’em up. My money is on Rush. My bet is that Rush comes out of this even stronger than ever as does the Tea Party. Any takers. Maybe he can even draw in a few libs to listen to the entertaining take down of the Republican establishment while simultaneously dropping knowledge on these yokels. It’s hilarious to me that the establishment hasn’t yet accepted it’s fate. It’s over. It offers no real alternative to the Progressives on the left. In less than 4 years the Tea Party has produced a real contender to put up against establishment’s Romney and an almost limitless amount of cash on their balance sheets and the Tea Party’s focus isn’t even on the Presidential election it’s on House and Senate seats. We’re in this for the long haul. This is not a movement. This is a REVOLUTION!

Huckabee is a huge bore for one hour on TV a week. 15 hours on radio? I’d rather watch paint dry.

Charm4sure

Cumulus is clueless and dumber than dirt. Whatever they do the millions that listen to Rush are hardly going to swap him for Huck. And Rush has options….. Internet, satellite radio. These people are fools.

Bill Bennet(sp) puts me back to sleep if I happen to listen to him in the morning, but Mike Huckleberry would put me into a coma. No freaking way will he compete with Rush.

carolt2

I cannot stand Huckabee, he made me sick when he was saying some of the things he did when he ran for the GOP Primary in 2007-2008. Does anyone remember squirrel soup?
I won’t watch him on FNC because I do not like the man, he is not a conservative, he’s a liberal dem from Arkansas. I am a Rush 24 member, I would listen to him online. I listen to him online at work from a radio station but only so I can hear local news updates.
I listen to Mark Levin live online too.

I watched Huckabee’s TV show once…boooooring. I listen to Rush on WLS-AM Chicago which is an ABC affiliate. Listening to to left-wing news and then Rush is quite a contrast.

BTW, I got a flier in the mail for Sleep Number. I sent it back with Rush’s Name, email, call in number and a ficticious address in Port St. Lucie on the return postcard. If you’re west of the Mississippi I would suggest Rio Linda. Think they’ll get it?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to air three hours of time-checks and station identification notices? You’d have the same audience numbers as Huck’s show compared to Rush.

NCHokie02

I’m pretty sure that Rush wouldn’t have any trouble finding another radio station in the NYC area to pick up his program. He comes with a huge audience. So now all those that listen to him up there have to change over to another station and save it as a preset. Done. You still have to convince other people to actually listen to Huck’s show. I’m pretty sure Rush will be ok. I wonder what they’ll say once Huck doesn’t do so well and Rush continues on as strong as always on another station…oops.

Edit: Plus there are apps for smartphones (I use tune-in) that pick-up radio stations anywhere in the country so people could always listen that way if nothing else.

911Infidel

Huckleberry will never outsell Limbaugh. Cumulus execs must have spent too many days in the fogery that passes for an education in this country and finally decided to go full stupid.

Making money and drawing in a large listenership is what drives the syndication machine. Morning Schmo found that out the hard way, so did Air Un-America.

Cumulus, will also learn that lesson. Cause no one gives a crap about Huckleberry.

Cumulus should stop by and see how Carbonite is doing before going any further and maybe put down that obama crack pipe that they’re smoking.

S K

Three words, NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN. They still don’t get it.

JohnDoe_FormerlyLOGICandREASON

HUCK IS A RINO/ESTABLISHMENT, case closed!

RUSH,LEVIN,BECK,HANNITY are independent and not aligned to any establishment

There’s a battle in my local area for Rush to be ousted. It’s a small, but organized group doing the pushing. I know this is just one thing among many, but we are definitely in the fight of our life. If I didn’t get it before, I sure do now. Our very freedoms are at stake in this battle, but I truly believe that if we hold ranks, we’re very close to winning!

Huck does not have the gravitas of Rushbo, which also explains why he did not run, he could not get the public excited about him. Some listeners will spend time on his show, but few of Rushbo listeners will abandon Rush and migrate to the blend and utterly inconsequential Huck. I am for more level headed Conservatives dominating the airwaves, no mater who they are. Somehow the voice of the deranged Lefties becomes drowned with all the noise. The headline news editors, news readers, news editors, producers are still guiding the news to fit the narrative of the lunatic Left. Huck can be helpful in damage control, correct the false news read by the news desks as they are dictated to them by the Soros financed Media Matter, Center for American Progress, the Progressives in Congress and assorted Obama PAC operatives leaking nasty talking points to spice the prospect of this failed and lawless regime.

JarrodThomas

Wow.

I have been a student at The Institute for Advanced Conservatism for 15 years or so and am very thankful for Mr. Limbaugh. I would find a way to listen if his show leaves my local station.

That being said, I am surprised at the vitriol unleashed against the former Governor of Arkansas. I had no idea the right scoop was such a hotbed of Huckabee haters…

Lenin was right: Huckabee and Cumulus are selling the rope with which they’ll hang conservatism.

JohnDoe_FormerlyLOGICandREASON

All this game boils down to the “listeners”, without which, the ‘radio business’ itself is meaningless.

So I’ll say, all Rush’s fans, listeners and admirers should pretend as if Huckabee does not exist. Don’t even listen to him for a second, and when profits don’t come in,the market will tell Cumulus when to yank Huck’s show from the air. ‘Listeners’ have the final say, and not the Radio moguls;it’s that simple!

Huckabee was never a conservative and will never be one. He is a true moderate Republican who will do the bidding of capital and his media masters. He will sell conservatism and libertarianism out. The proof is he is willing to attempt to knock out Rush.

lambfound

So Rush will go to other stations and Huckabee will die on the vine. I don’t think Rush is losing sleep over this. Huckabee does not appeal to a broad base of people – he reminds me of Jimmy Swaggert – smarmy. Can Huckabee be this dumb to do this?

Peter_S

All Rush would have to do is go straight to Podcast, bring on ad reads, charge for the podcast through his website, work for an hour and a half instead of 3 and make more money. Why do you think Adam Carolla is doing so well.

Conservative_Hippie

The people will voice their opinion, and Cumulus media will have to live with it. Huckabee is no match for El Rushbo! And in the end it’s all about money anyway.

If Rush gets bumped from WABC77 there is no doubt The Apple970 will have him on their station. No way they would pass that up. That’s money in the bank. I remember about 10 years ago a talk station (WWDB) in Philly had Rush and took him off. Bad move……Another station picked him up and had him on the next day while WWDB went down the tubes and became a teeny bopper station.

narciso

Ironically she did vote for him in the 2008 primary, no good deed go unpunished;

I may be wrong but Mike Huckabee will never measure up to Rush. If one station drops Rush there will be another one to pick him up in each area of the country. Huckabee is a good republican but not much of a conservative. Rush is a conservative and that will be the difference along with his ability to illustrate the absurdity of the left.

Remember, the grand Poo-bah of FoxNews, Bill O’reilly dropped out of the Radio landscape because he couldn’t hang with Rush Limbaugh. Michael Savage I would say could go against Rush and be successful, since he says what most of us think. His timing, combining storytelling with politics sets him apart from the competition. Mike Huckabee is a Minister so therefore he has to act very civil and sanitary, somewhat like a conservative NPR. Yuck!

jonjones100

I know that I will never listen to him in Chattanooga. You can listen to Rush on Net and we will listen to him. They will fail as a business because Huckabee is not Rush and never will be.